“My family is Russian and a lot of traditional recipes have been lost over the years,” says computer programmer Val Falstad. “I have been trying to redevelop a lot of them to maintain the recipe heritage and also make them my own.” Her greatest compliment on this recipe came from her brother, who, between bites of his third slice, said, “I don’t even like dark breads, but there’s something about this bread and I can’t stop eating it!” The judges of the 2010 Vegetarian Times Recipe Contest agreed and awarded this recipe Honorable Mention.